What it takes to pass CISSP

CISSP reports results on a scale from 0 to 1000, and 700 is the line on that scale, not a percentage of questions. ISC2 converts your raw performance to the scale with a model it does not publish, which weights questions by difficulty. Two candidates can answer the same number of questions correctly and land on different scaled scores.

That has one practical consequence: nobody outside ISC2 can tell you exactly how many questions you can miss. Any site that gives you a precise miss budget is guessing. What you can do is practice against the same cut score: our CISSP practice exams score on the published 700 line, so a practice result reads the same way the real one will.

A retake costs another $749, which is why sitting practice exams until you clear the line consistently is the cheapest part of preparing.

The candidates who pass on the first attempt treat the cut score as a rehearsal target, not a day-of surprise. Sit a full-length CISSP practice exam under the real time limit, scored against the published line, and book the real exam when you clear it consistently rather than once.